A Tale of de Blasio’s Neighborhoods: Park Slope and Yorkville

He’s finally in the new place now, his Dickensian catchphrase having taken him from the leafy idyll of Park Slope to the sleepy outpost of Yorkville.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, the populist candidate, is gradually settling into Gracie Mansion, called “the people’s home” by the former mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, when he restored and opened it to the public more than a decade ago. Mayor Bloomberg, of course, opted out, preferring his stately townhouse on East 79th Street.

But as Mr. de Blasio has meetings on the front porch in Carl Schurz Park and holds barbecues in the backyard overlooking the East River, he might be surprised to learn that his new neighborhood in Manhattan’s far eastern climes is not all that different from the Brooklyn one he left behind.

No longer will he be able to dash down 11th Street in his sandals to grab a quick dinner at Bar Toto. But Mr. de Blasio will still find plenty of acceptable pizza joints, diners and health food stores; and just as in the Slope, there are families with strollers, dogs walking their owners, mom-and-pop stores, a bustling, low-key gym, and a fair amount of economic diversity that belies the stereotype of the richer, crustier Upper East Side.

It is safe to say that the brand of Yorkville, unlike Brooklyn or even the “Gossip Girl” Upper East Side, is not a cultural touchstone. But Yorkville is not all Brearley ladies in prewar apartments with river views. It’s not all postcollege revelers along Third Avenue. And it has not been a German and Hungarian enclave for half a century.

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Left to right, Chiara and Dante de Blasio, Chirlane McCray and Bill de Blasio on Jan. 1.CreditUli Seit for The New York Times

To locals, at least, Yorkville is a unique preserve, extending from 79th Street to 96th Street and from Third Avenue to the river. There are five-story brick walk-ups, railroad apartments occupied by city employees, public housing buildings and some luxury high-rises. And the neighborhood basks in its isolation.

Residents are newly intrigued by the house at the east end of 88th Street that except for the occasional official soiree, had sat empty for 12 years.

“It was almost like a relic, other than something that breathed and moved and had blood flow,” said Donna Bradbury, 50, a broker for Citi-Habitats, who has lived down the block for all of those years. “Now that he’s there, it feels like it has life to it. It’s like, ‘Oh, O.K., something does breathe and move there and can add to this place.’ ”

But just to show that those in the far reaches of the Upper East Side have the same pressing concerns as Park Slopers, she added: “We were all worried, too, that the parking would get bad. Fortunately, you can still park.”

There are a few more black vehicles and watchful officials in sunglasses around the park’s 88th Street entrance now, perhaps advisable considering that in one sense, the mayor has moved into enemy territory. In the general election, Mr. de Blasio crushed the Republican candidate, Joseph J. Lhota, by a nearly 50 percent margin. But the result in Yorkville was virtually the opposite; Mr. Lhota’s votes quite likely came from his opposition to constructing the Marine Transfer Station, a two-acre, 10-story garbage depot on East 91st and the East River — a project that Mr. de Blasio supported.

If there is anything that can disrupt the tranquillity of Yorkville’s sea breezes, it is this subject. “It’s unconscionable to put a garbage dump in that location,” Ruth Ziegler, 74, said on a recent afternoon while walking her dog, Schlumpi, in Carl Schurz Park.

The mayor’s refusal to reject the plan approved by the Bloomberg administration — construction is now underway — could make for some awkward silences should he work out at Asphalt Green, the closest gym to his new home.

Despite leading the fight against the transfer station, Asphalt Green has issued a standing invitation to the mayor. “I can absolutely tell you that we would love to have him there — independent of anything else,” said DeJuana Richardson, 38, a fitness instructor and personal trainer who has worked with the local city councilman, Ben Kallos.

The treadmills and exercise bikes — Mr. de Blasio’s chosen equipment — look out on the swirling confluence of the East River, the Harlem River and Long Island Sound. At sunrise, the view can be spiritual. It sure beats peering onto double parkers on Ninth Street, as Mr. de Blasio did at the Prospect Park YMCA.

For a mayor who pledged to combat class divisions, Mr. de Blasio might be heartened to learn that Yorkville is somewhat less affluent than Park Slope, at least according to statistics from the five-year American Community Survey (2008-2012), compiled by the Queens College sociology department. The median household income was $103,871 in Park Slope; in Yorkville it was $90,447. These days, the average monthly rent is $123 less in Yorkville than in Park Slope, according to Halstead Property, although sale prices are a good $207,500 more in Yorkville. Still, many young families find great deals for the space.

“We looked at real estate in Park Slope, and it’s incredibly unaffordable,” said Bryan Goldberg, 32, a personal trainer, who was sunbathing in the mayor’s backyard of Carl Schurz Park recently. He and his wife, Rebecca, 32, a nurse, bought a co-op on 80th Street between First and Second Avenues.

“People think the Upper East Side is a boring part of Manhattan,” Ms. Goldberg said, which is fine with them. They found Belgian bistros and craft beer, which fit their speed now. “We’re a little bit past going out and partying,” she said.

Correction:

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of a label on an interactive picture with this article misstated the zip code for the portion of the Yorkville neighborhood that includes Gracie Mansion. It is 10128, not 10028.